After years in the economic slow lane, Queensland is starting to surge with solid jobs growth and strong interstate migration driven by Sydney and Melbourne's high property prices, the latest Deloitte business report shows.

The clean-up of decommissioned coal-fired power stations is a new challenge for Australia, and one regional South Australian community says it's being denied clean air because of problems with remediation.

The clean-up of decommissioned coal-fired power stations is a new challenge for Australia, and one regional South Australian community says it is being denied clean air which is leading to health problems as current remediation on the site is not sufficient.

The authority established to manage $266 million of financial assistance to help the Latrobe Valley transition away from coal-fired power generation says it is unable to provide a figure on how much of that has been spent.

With a group of Coalition MPs forming the 'Monash Forum' to lobby for coal and Alinta expressing interest in buying the Liddell power station from AGL, which had scheduled its closure, the energy debate is firmly back on the agenda.

Electricity from new coal-fired power plants would cost twice as much as power from existing coal power stations, Treasurer Scott Morrison warns, but Tony Abbott says the claim is puzzling and issues his own warning about coal phobia being "politically contagious".

A Fair Work Commission decision to scrap a workplace agreement at a NSW coal terminal sends ripples through the mining industry, with the issue of workers' entitlements tipped to become an election issue.

China, the world's biggest polluter, pledges to drastically cut its use of fossil fuels and increase renewable energy by 20 per cent by 2030. But many question whether the rhetoric is matching reality.

Despite meeting clearing all the environmental hurdles, Adani's controversial Carmichael coal mine is still not underway, with the now company admitting it won't meet it's own deadline to lock in financial backing for the mine. And it's frustrating the mine's supporters.

Legal advice provided to the ALP states it would be "virtually impossible" for Adani to challenge a future Labor government's decision to scrap the company's licence to build a coal mine in central Queensland.